A Big Bathroom & Closet Update: a house log

We made some fairly exciting progress over the last few weeks that has earned us a much more functional space with a random but doable smattering of tasks left on our to-do list. We are certainly rounding third base on this bathroom (that sounds weird, but you know what I mean – we are getting extremely close to the end) and for that I am straight up Carlton-dancing. Let me tell you, having a double sink for the first time in our lives (and my go-to toilet! and an actual closet system instead of a few old hanging bars!) is a large upgrade.

We are thrilled, even if this feels like it has been a much longer renovation than we initially anticipated (are not they all?). And since its been a while since we have blogged about our bathroom & closet progress (we have shown a lot of peeks on our Instagram Stories but our last journal post was all the way back on October 9th!) we hoped to give you a big ol’ update, complete with pictures that we snapped this quite morning.

Shortly after Thanksgiving, we were plugging along as planned, having wrapped up the shower tile and gotten began on our floor tile, with a goal to grout them both at the same time. BUT then we got word that our plumber was having knee surgery in a mere 4 days, leaving him out of commission for 5 weeks. So if we hoped anything installed before February (YIKES!) we had less than a week to get the room ready for it.

So we did what we do best, and totally panicked. Then we had some snacks, took a few deep breaths, and shifted our priorities to focus on getting simply the floor tiled and grouted (so the toilet, vanity, and tub could be installed on top of them) – it meant we would not have the shower done as swiftly, but regaining a toilet and sink were the priority. We could simply continue using the hall shower for a little longer, but earn back a sink and toilet for the middle of the night – which we sorely missed.

We also realized that since we hoped to install some molding on the walls around the room, that would be much easier to do before the toilet, vanity, and tub were installed (and in the way of any sort of wall treatment installation). I will spare you the play by play of cramming all of that into a few days (literally I think it was around 40 hours) and simply say that thanks to some especially late nights of tiling, nailing, caulking, grouting, and painting we got it done juuuust in time. (We will do a detailed post about how we installed that thick trim around the room soon – we think it was one of the best choices we made in the whole room and truly elevated the space).

Now, back to where I said we got it done simply in time. Well in fact it was done simply in time to find out that our plumber was too slammed with finishing other projects to squeeze us in on the day before his surgery like he hoped he could have. We were the last to get on his list, so we totally got that we’d be the first to miss out if he ran out of time.

The STRONG news was that he was able to send a couple of other folks on his team over the quite next day to take care of it instead! Which certainly beats a 5 week wait while he recovered from knee surgery. So it all worked out simply fine in the end – although they did not have the kit they needed to install the tub so that would have to wait, along with trimming out the shower (since we still have to grout and seal that to get it ready for them to complete that install).

So yeah, it is a bathroom that looks fairly but does not have a functioning shower or tub yet (this is the tub we picked up that right now lives in our bedroom). But frankly, we are too dang excited to have running faucets and a flushing toilet to truly care.

Oh and some people have asked why we did not simply install the toilet and vanity ourselves (rather than race to meet the plumber’s deadline). They are both tasks we have done before and are perfectly capable of doing again, so it certainly was an option. But the best way for our plumber to guarantee his work (including all the new pipes that he connected in the walls) is for him to see the job through from start to finish.

So in a pinch we certainly could’ve taken over, but everyone involved preferred to let him finish what he began – simply so that if in a month something is leaking he could fully guarantee his work and fix it on the house (versus some awkward “well, I did the plumbing for the toilet but did not in fact install it…” conversation where we are not sure who is responsible to fix something). It also helps for code reasons to have a licensed plumber do all of the plumbing work when it is a large gut job of a room (versus us switching out a toilet or faucet ourselves in an otherwise-not-gutted bathroom, which does not require a permit since it is not a large update).

Now at this point you might guess that we’d shift our focus back to grouting the shower and getting it ready for the plumbers to finish up after the holiday, along with the tub at last going in. But no, we had officially spun off in a new direction. Blame on it on the excitement of starting to have a wrapped up-feeling bathroom with a working toilet and sink again (that truly took the pressure off the shower/tub thing). Or the fact that we had holiday guests coming and needed to get all of our displaced closet stuff out of the dining room and garage and everywhere else it had piled up (things explode everywhere when you have 1,432 Ikea parts simply waiting to be installed and an whole closet full of two people’s clothes and shoes that have been offset to other places). So with simply a few days before Christmas, we turned our attention to installing our new closet.

It simply felt SO. FREAKING. GOOD. to have this space functional again (and to at last move all of our displaced clothing back into the closet). We fully installed it over the course of a few days (during the week of Christmas – all we hoped was a wrapped up closet for the holidays). So yes, we gave ourself the gift of not having to go into the kids’ bedrooms to get various items of clothing anymore, and cleared off our dining table simply in time for holiday guests. We used the Ikea Pax system and we promise to share a full post about it soon (how we installed it & trimmed it out so it looks built-in, photos of how we organized each section – even a video tour!).

Oh and you will notice in a few of the photos above there is a rug in front of the double vanity, but the same rug is also in this shot of the closet:

It is a secondhand rug from Etsy that I got for $186 all the way from Turkey! It shipped in less than a week (?!?!), and I enjoy how it feels old and faded (because it is!). This is the vendor that I got it from, and here are a few similar ones. It adds so much warmth to the room, and honestly I enjoy it in front of the vanity, but I might enjoy it in the closet even more.

You can see some other things that we checked off the list, like hanging our new mirrors over the sink, mounting our arched mirror in the closet, hanging my beloved capiz chandelier, and bringing in some greenery and woven textures in the baskets on the sink, in the closet, etc.

I fully subscribe to the “morale boost” that happens when you bring in a few fairly things to buoy your spirits, even if you are not wrapped up yet. Soak up the progress & feel glad in that half-done room! Also, plants make me glad.

In addition to still needing to finish grouting and sealing the shower and getting the tub and the wall-mounted faucet installed, there are still some other tasks on our list, but they all feel extremely doable. I am thrilled to have what once was a list of about 117 things down to a half dozen or so:

• Wire the vanity fixtures: We were deciding between two finish options so we simply hung them without in fact wiring them – you cannot see the other one we considered in these photos – but I will do an InstaStory about them to show you both options & share why we picked the one that we did.
• Paint the vanity: We like the existing color but think the room could use something a little softer than gray (this muted green one has consistently inspired me). Will keep you posted.
• Hang towel hooks & art: Our current plan is to do some combo of those above the tub (and to hang art over the toilet) but we need to get the tub installed first.
• Get & hang a shower curtain: We both simultaneously began to second guess our original plan to do a glass shower door because we realized a curtain would add some pleasant softness & texture (call us weird but we have consistently preferred a curtain to glass anyway – plus, it is one less thing to scrub/squeegee). We can consistently go back and add a glass door later if we do not end up loving a curtain – but the fact that both of us have felt the pull towards trying one first makes us glad to give it a whirl before rushing into an pricey glass door.
• Hang & frost the bathroom door: The 15-light glass door that we ordered should be arriving any day now, so we have gotta hang that to give this room some privacy. They did not sell a pre-frosted version we liked, so we have a date with some frosting film too. (P.S. We have a frosted door to the bathroom at the beach house & it works strong for us – but if you are someone who turns on the light at the crack of dawn and wakes up your partner it might not work for you).

I am sure I am forgetting some stuff in that list, but it certainly feels like we are rounding the final bend! And of course we will share a full budget breakdown of this project when we are back with a full reveal. We have been keeping track, and it has been blissfully straightforward (no crazy discoveries behind the walls) so we are excited to share that with you folks when we stick a fork in this project.

Wanna see a few other room makeovers we have tackled over the years? Here are some go-tos:

• a full bathroom reno that we did in our 1st house for under $2000
• our big kitchen renovation (these before & afters are my fav)
• a $51 bathroom makeover (!!!) that makes me smile so big
• our bonus room renovation (this room did not used to exist!)
• and painting our brick house white (not a room but it is our fav thing ever)

P.S. Do not forget to read the first post about this bathroom reno to see a video tour and check out the exciting half-demo-ed pics. And here is the planning post with a before and after floor plan, along with how we chose the tile, found inspiration, etc.

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